Maruja by Bret Harte

Its easy to link to paragraphs in the Full Text ArchiveIf this page contains some material that you want to link to but you don't want your visitors to have to scroll down the whole page just hover your mouse over the relevent paragraph and click the bookmark icon that appears to the left of it. The address of that paragraph will appear in the address bar of your browser. For further details about how you can link to the Full Text Archive please refer to our linking page.

"I must ask you first the purport of this interview," said Carroll,curtly, "before I prolong it further. You have asked me to comehere in reference to certain letters I returned to their rightfulowner some months ago. If you seek to reclaim them again, or torefer to a subject which must remain forgotten, I decline toproceed further."

"It DOES refer to the letters, and it rests with you whether theyshall be forgotten or not. It is not my fault if the subject hasbeen dropped. You must remember that until yesterday you have beenabsent on a tour of inspection and could not be applied to before."

Carroll cast a cold glance at Prince, and then threw himself into achair, with his overcoat still on and his long military bootscrossed before the fire. Sitting there in profile Prince could notbut notice that he looked older and sterner than at their lastinterview, and his cheeks were thinned as if by something more thanactive service.

"When you were here last summer," began Prince, leaning forwardover his desk, "you brought me a piece of news that astounded me,as it did many others. It was the assignment of Dr. West'sproperty to Mrs. Saltonstall. That was something there was nogainsaying; it was a purely business affair, and involved nobody'srights but the assignor. But this was followed, a day or twoafter, by the announcement of the Doctor's will, making the samelady the absolute and sole inheritor of the same property. Thatseemed all right too; for there were, apparently, no legal heirs.Since then, however, it has been discovered that there is a legalheir--none other than the Doctor's only son. Now, as no allusionto the son's existence was made in that will--which was a greatoversight of the Doctor's--it is a fiction of the law that such anomission is an act of forgetfulness, and therefore leaves the sonthe same rights as if there had been no will at all. In otherwords, if the Doctor had seen fit to throw his scapegrace son ahundred dollar bill, it would have been legal evidence that heremembered him. As he did not, it's a fair legal presumption thathe forgot him, or that the will is incomplete."

"This seems to be a question for Mrs. Saltonstall's lawyers--notfor her friends," said Carroll, coldly.

"Excuse me; that remains for you to decide--when you hear all. Youunderstand at present, then, that Dr. West's property, both byassignment and will, was made over, in the event of his death, notto his legal heirs, but to a comparative stranger. It looked queerto a good many people, but the only explanation was, that theDoctor had fallen very much in love with the widow--that he wouldhave probably married her--had he lived."

With an unpleasant recollection that this was almost exactlyMaruja's explanation of her mother's relations to Dr. West, Carrollreturned, impatiently, "If you mean that their private relationsmay be made the subject of legal discussion, in the event oflitigation in regard to the property, that again is a matter forMrs. Saltonstall to decide--and not her friends. It is purely amatter of taste."

"It may be a matter of discretion, Captain Carroll."

"Of discretion!" repeated Carroll, superciliously.

"Well," said Prince, leaving his desk and coming to the fire-place,with his hands in his pockets, "what would you call it, if it couldbe found that Dr. West, on leaving Mrs. Saltonstall's that night,did not meet with an accident, was not thrown from his horse, butwas coolly and deliberately murdered!"

Captain Carroll's swift recollection of the discovery he himselfhad made in the road, and its inconsistency with the acceptedtheory of the accident, unmistakably showed itself in his face. Itwas a moment before he recovered himself.

"But even if it can be proved to have been a murder and not anaccident, what has that to do with Mrs. Saltonstall or her claim tothe property?"

"Only that she was the one person directly benefited by his death."

Captain Carroll looked at him steadily, and then rose to his feet."Do I understand that you have called me here to listen to thisinfamous aspersion of a lady?"

"I have called you here, Captain Carroll, to listen to thearguments that may be used to set aside Dr. West's will, and returnthe property to the legal heir. You are to listen to them or not,as you choose; but I warn you that your opportunity to hear them inconfidence and convey them to your friend will end here. I have noopinion in the case. I only tell you that it will be argued thatDr. West was unduly influenced to make a will in Mrs. Saltonstall'sfavor; that, after having done so, it will be shown that, justbefore his death, he became aware of the existence of his son andheir, and actually had an interview with him; that he visited Mrs.Saltonstall that evening, with the records of his son's identityand a memorandum of his interview in his pocket-book; and that, anhour after leaving the house, he was foully murdered. That is thetheory which Mrs. Saltonstall has to consider. I told you I haveno opinion. I only know that there are witnesses to the interviewof the Doctor and his son; there is evidence of murder, and themurderer is suspected; there is the evidence of the pocket-book,with the memorandum picked up on the spot, which you handed meyourself."

"Do you mean to say that you will permit this pocketbook, handedyou in confidence, to be used for such an infamous purpose?" saidCarroll.

"I think you offered it to me in exchange for Dr. West's letters toMrs. Saltonstall," returned Prince, dryly. "The less said aboutthat, the less is likely to be said about compromising letterswritten by the widow to the Doctor, which she got you to recover--letters which they may claim had a bearing on the case, and evenlured him to his fate."

For an instant Captain Carroll recoiled before the gulf whichseemed to open at the feet of the unhappy family. For an instant aterrible doubt possessed him, and in that doubt he found a newreason for a certain changed and altered tone in Maruja's latercorrespondence with him, and the vague hints she had thrown out ofthe impossibility of their union. "I beg you will not press me togreater candor," she had written, "and try to forget me before youlearn to hate me." For an instant he believed--and even took amiserable comfort in the belief--that it was this hideous secret,and not some coquettish caprice, to which she vaguely alluded. Butit was only for a moment; the next instant the monstrous doubtpassed from the mind of the simple gentleman, with only a slightflush of shame at his momentary disloyalty.

Prince, however, had noticed it, not without a faint sense ofsympathy. "Look here!" he said, with a certain brusqueness, whichin a man of his character was less dangerous than his smoothness."I know your feelings to that family--at least to one of them--and,if I've been playing it pretty rough on you, it's only because youplayed it rather rough on ME the last time you were here. Let'sunderstand each other. I'll go so far as to say I don't believethat Mrs. Saltonstall had anything to do with that murder, but, asa business man, I'm bound to say that these circumstances and herown indiscretion are quite enough to bring the biggest pressuredown on her. I wouldn't want any better 'bear' on the market valueof her rights than this. Take it at its best. Say that theCoroner's verdict is set aside, and a charge of murder againstunknown parties is made--"

"One moment, Mr. Prince," said Carroll. "I shall be one of thefirst to insist that this is done, and I have confidence enough inMrs. Saltonstall's honest friendship for the Doctor to know thatshe will lose no time in pursuing his murderers."

Prince looked at Carroll with a feeling of half envy and half pity."I think not," he said, dryly; "for all suspicion points to one manas the perpetrator, and that man was Mrs. Saltonstall'sconfidential servant--the mayordomo, Pereo." He waited for amoment for the effect of this announcement on Carroll, and thenwent on: "You now understand that, even if Mrs. Saltonstall isacquitted of any connivance with or even knowledge of the deed, shewill hardly enjoy the prosecution of her confidential servant formurder."

"But how can this be prevented? If, as you say, there are actualproofs, why have they not been acted upon before? What can keepthem from being acted upon now?"

"The proofs have been collected by one man, have been in possessionof one man, and will only pass out of his possession when it is forthe benefit of the legal heir--who does not yet even know of theirexistence."

"Captain Carroll," said Prince, without moving, but drawing hislips tightly together and putting his head on one side, "I don'tpropose to have another scene like the one we had at our lastmeeting. If you try on anything of that kind, I shall put thewhole matter into a lawyer's hands. I don't say that you won'tregret it; I don't say that I sha'nt be disappointed, too, for Ihave been managing this thing purely as a matter of business, witha view to profiting by it. It so happens that we can both work tothe same end, even if our motives are not the same. I don't callmyself an officer and a gentleman, but I reckon I've run thisaffair about as delicately as the best of them, and with a d----dsight more horse sense. I want this thing hushed up andcompromised, to get some control of the property again, and toprevent it depreciating, as it would, in litigation; you want ithushed up for the sake of the girl and your future mother-in-law.I don't know anything about your laws of honor, but I've laid mycards on the table for you to see, without asking what you've gotin your hand. You can play the game or leave the board, as youchoose." He turned and walked to the window--not without leavingon Carroll's mind a certain sense of firmness, truthfulness, andsincerity which commanded his respect.

"I withdraw any remark that might have seemed to reflect on yourbusiness integrity, Mr. Prince," said Carroll, quietly. "I amwilling to admit that you have managed this thing better than Icould, and, if I join you in an act to suppress these revelations,I have no right to judge of your intentions. What do you proposeto have me do?"

"To state the whole case to Mrs. Saltonstall, and to ask her toacknowledge the young man's legal claim without litigation."

"But how do you know that she would not do this without--excuse me--without intimidation?"

"I only reckon that a woman clever enough to get hold of a million,would be clever enough to keep it--against others."

"I hope to show you are mistaken. But where is this heir?"

"Here."

"Here?"

"Yes. For the last six months he has been my private secretary. Iknow what you are thinking of, Captain Carroll. You would considerit indelicate--eh? Well, that's just where we differ. By thismeans I have kept everything in my own hands--prevented him fromgetting into the hands of outsiders--and I intend to dispose ofjust as much of the facts to him as may be necessary for him toprove his title. What bargain I make with HIM--is my affair."

"Does he suspect the murder?"

"No. I did not think it necessary for his good or mine. He can bean ugly devil if he likes, and although there wasn't much love lostbetween him and the old man, it wouldn't pay to have any revengemixed up with business. He knows nothing of it. It was only byaccident that, looking after his movements while he was here, I ranacross the tracks of the murderer."

"But what has kept him from making known his claim to theSaltonstalls? Are you sure he has not?" said Carroll, with asudden thought that it might account for Maruja's strangeness.

"Positive. He's too proud to make a claim unless he couldthoroughly prove it, and only a month ago he made me promise tokeep it dark. He's too lazy to trouble himself about it muchanyway--as far as I can see. D----d if I don't think his being atramp has made him lose his taste for everything! Don't worryyourself about HIM. He isn't likely to make confidences with theSaltonstalls, for he don't like 'em, and never went there but once.Instinctively or not, the widow didn't cotton to him; and I fancyMiss Maruja has some old grudge against him for that fan businesson the road. She isn't a girl to forgive or forget anything, as Ihappen to know," he added, with an uneasy laugh.

Carroll was too preoccupied with the danger that seemed to threatenhis friends from this surly pretender to resent Prince's tactlessallusion. He was thinking of Maruja's ominous agitation at hispresence at Dr. West's grave. "Do they suspect him at all?"--heasked, hurriedly.

"How should they? He goes by the name of Guest--which was hisfather's real name until changed by an act of legislation when hefirst came here. Nobody remembers it. We only found it out fromhis papers. It was quite legal, as all his property was acquiredunder the name of West."

Carroll rose and buttoned his overcoat. "I presume you are able tooffer conclusive proofs of everything you have asserted?"

"Perfectly."

"I am going to the Mision Perdida now," said Captain Carroll,quietly. "To-morrow I will bring you the answer--Peace or War."He walked to the door, lifted his hand to his cap, with a briefmilitary salutation, and disappeared.

CHAPTER XI

As Captain Carroll urged his horse along the miry road to La MisionPerdida, he was struck with certain changes in the landscape beforehim other than those wrought by the winter rains. There were theusual deep gullies and trenches, half-filled with water, in thefields and along the road, but there were ominous embankments andridges of freshly turned soil, and a scattered fringe of timbersfollowing a cruel, undeviating furrow on the broad grazing lands ofthe Mision. But it was not until he had crossed the arroyo that hefelt the full extent of the late improvements. A quick rumbling inthe distance, a light flash of steam above the willow copse, thatdrifted across the field on his right, and he knew that therailroad was already in operation. Captain Carroll reined in hisfrightened charger, and passed his hand across his brow with adazed sense of loss. He had been gone only four months--yet healready felt strange and forgotten.

It was with a feeling of relief that he at last turned from thehigh-road into the lane. Here everything was unchanged, exceptthat the ditches were more thickly strewn with the sodden leaves offringing oaks and sycamores. Giving his horse to a servant in thecourt-yard, he did not enter the patio, but, crossing the lawn,stepped upon the long veranda. The rain was dripping from itseaves and striking a minute spray from the vines that clung to itscolumns; his footfall awoke a hollow echo as he passed, as if theouter shell of the house were deserted; the formal yews andhemlocks that in summer had relieved the dazzling glare of sixmonths' sunshine had now taken gloomy possession of the garden, andthe evening shadows, thickened by rain, seemed to lie in wait atevery corner. The servant, who had, with old-fashioned courtesy,placed the keys and the "disposition" of that wing of the house athis service, said that Dona Maria would wait upon him in the salonbefore dinner. Knowing the difficulty of breaking the usual rigidetiquette, and trusting to the happy intervention of Maruja--thoughhere, again, custom debarred him from asking for her--he allowedthe servant to remove his wet overcoat, and followed him to thestately and solemn chamber prepared for him. The silence and gloomof the great house, so grateful and impressive in the ardentsummer, began to weigh upon him under this shadow of an overcastsky. He walked to the window and gazed out on the cloister-likeveranda. A melancholy willow at an angle of the stables seemed tobe wringing its hands in the rising wind. He turned for relief tothe dim fire that flickered like a votive taper in the vault-likehearth, and drew a chair towards it. In spite of the impatienceand preoccupation of a lover, he found himself again and againrecurring to the story he had just heard, until the vengeful spiritof the murdered Doctor seemed to darken and possess the house. Hewas striving to shake off the feeling, when his attention wasattracted to stealthy footsteps in the passage. Could it beMaruja? He rose to his feet, with his eye upon the door. Thefootsteps ceased--it remained closed. But another door, which hadescaped his attention in the darkened corner, slowly swung on itshinges, and, with a stealthy step, Pereo, the mayordomo, enteredthe room.

Courageous and self-possessed as Captain Carroll was by nature andeducation, this malevolent vision, and incarnation of the thoughtuppermost in his mind, turned him cold. He had half drawn aderringer from his breast, when his eye fell on the grizzled locksand wrinkled face of the old man, and his hand dropped to his side.But Pereo, with the quick observation of insanity, had noticed theweapon, and rubbed his hands together, with a malicious laugh.

"Good! good! good!" he whispered, rapidly, in a strange bodilessvoice; "'t will serve! 't will serve! And you are a soldier too--and know how to use it! Good, it is a Providence!" He lifted hishollow eyes to heaven, and then added, "Come! come!"

Carroll stepped towards him. He was alone and in the presence ofan undoubted madman--one strong enough, in spite of his years, toinflict a deadly injury, and one whom he now began to realize mighthave done so once before. Nevertheless, he laid his hand on theold man's arm, and, looking him calmly in the eye, said, quietly,"Come? Where, Pereo? I have only just arrived."

"I know it," whispered the old man, nodding his head violently. "Iwas watching them, when you rode up. That is why I lost the scent;but together we can track them still--we can track them. Eh,Captain, eh! Come! Come!" and he moved slowly backward, wavinghis hand towards the door.

"Track whom, Pereo?" said Carroll, soothingly. "Whom do you seek?"

"Whom?" said the old man, startled for a moment and passing hishand over his wrinkled forehead. "Whom? Eh! Why, the Dona Marujaand the little black cat--her maid--Faquita!"

"Yes, but why seek them? Why track them?"

"Why?" said the old man, with a sudden burst of impotent passion."YOU ask me why! Because they are going to the rendezvous again.They are going to seek him. Do you understand--to seek HIM--theCoyote!"

Carroll smiled a faint smile of relief--"So--the Coyote!"

"Ay," said the old man, in a confidential whisper; "the Coyote!But not the big one--you understand--the little one. The big oneis dead--dead--dead! But the little one lives yet. You shall dofor HIM what I, Pereo--listen--" he glanced around the roomfurtively--"what I--the good old Pereo, did for the big one! Good,it is a Providence. Come!"

Of the terrible thoughts that crossed Carroll's mind at thisunexpected climax one alone was uppermost. The tremblingirresponsible wretch before him meditated some vague crime--andMaruja was in danger. He did not allow himself to dwell upon anyother suspicion suggested by that speech; he quickly conceived aplan of action. To have rung the bell and given Pereo into thehands of the servants would have only exposed to them the lunatic'ssecret--if he had any--and he might either escape in his fury orrelapse into useless imbecility. To humor him and follow him, andtrust afterwards to his own quickness and courage to avert anycalamity, seemed to be the only plan. Captain Carroll turned hisclear glance on the restless eyes of Pereo, and said, withoutemotion, "Let us go, then, and quickly. You shall track them forme; but remember, good Pereo, you must leave the rest to me."

In spite of himself, some accidental significance in thisostentatious adjuration to lull Pereo's suspicions struck him withpain. But the old man's eyes glittered with gratified passion as hesaid, "Ay, good! I will keep my word. Thou shalt work thy will onthe little one as I have said. Truly it is a Providence! Come!"Seeing Captain Carroll glance round for his overcoat, he seized aponcho from the wall, wrapped it round him, and grasped his hand.Carroll, who would have evaded this semblance of disguise, had notime to parley, and they turned together, through the door by whichPereo had entered, into a long dark passage, which seemed to bemade through the outer shell of the building that flanked the park.Following his guide in the profound obscurity, perfectly consciousthat any change in his madness might be followed by a struggle inthe dark, where no help could reach them, they presently came to adoor that opened upon the fresh smell of rain and leaves. Theywere standing at the bottom of a secluded alley, between two highhedges that hid it from the end of the garden. Its grass-grownwalk and untrimmed hedges showed that it was seldom used. Carroll,still keeping close to Pereo's side, felt him suddenly stop andtremble. "Look!" he said, pointing to a shadowy figure somedistance before them; "look, 'tis Maruja, and alone!"

With a dexterous movement, Carroll managed to slip his arm securelythrough the old man's, and even to throw himself before him, as ifin his eagerness to discern the figure.

"'Tis Maruja--and alone!" said Pereo, trembling. "Alone! Eh! Andthe Coyote is not here!" He passed his hand over his staring eyes."So." Suddenly he turned upon Carroll. "Ah, do you not see, it isa trick! The Coyote is escaping with Faquita! Come! Nay; thouwilt not? Then will I!" With an unexpected strength born of hismadness, he freed his arm from Carroll and darted down the alley.The figure of Maruja, evidently alarmed at his approach, glidedinto the hedge, as Pereo passed swiftly by, intent only on his onewild fancy. Without a further thought of his companion or even theluckless Faquita, Carroll also plunged through the hedge, tointercept Maruja. But by that time she was already crossing theupper end of the lawn, hurrying towards the entrance to the patio.Carroll did not hesitate to follow. Keeping in view the lithe,dark, active little figure, now hidden by an intervening cluster ofbushes, now fading in the gathering evening shadows, henevertheless did not succeed in gaining upon her until she hadnearly reached the patio. Here he lost ground, as turning to theright, instead of entering the court-yard, she kept her way towardthe stables. He was near enough, however, to speak. "One moment,Miss Saltonstall," he said hurriedly; "there is no danger. I amalone. But I must speak with you."

The young girl seemed only to redouble her exertions. At last shestopped before a narrow door hidden in the wall, and fumbled in herpocket for a key. That moment Carroll was upon her.

"Forgive me, Miss Saltonstall--Maruja; but you must hear me! Youare safe, but I fear for your maid, Faquita!"

A little laugh followed his speech; the door yielded and opened toher vanishing figure. For an instant the lace shawl muffling herface was lifted, as the door closed and locked behind her. Carrolldrew back in consternation. It was the laughing eyes and saucyface of Faquita!

CHAPTER XII

When Captain Carroll turned from the high-road into the lane, anhour before, Maruja and Faquita had already left the house by thesame secret passage and garden-door that opened afterwards uponhimself and Pereo. The young women had evidently changed dresses:Maruja was wearing the costume of her maid; Faquita was closelyveiled and habited like her mistress; but it was characteristicthat, while Faquita appeared awkward and over-dressed in herborrowed plumes, Maruja's short saya and trim bodice, with thestriped shawl that hid her fair head, looked infinitely morecoquettish and bewitching than on its legitimate owner.

They passed hurriedly down the long alley, and at its further endturned at right angles to a small gate half hidden in theshrubbery. It opened upon a venerable vineyard, that dated back tothe occupation of the padres, but was now given over to the chancecultivation of peons and domestics. Its long, broken rows of lowvines, knotted and overgrown with age, reached to the thicketedhillside of buckeye that marked the beginning of the canada. HereMaruja parted from her maid, and, muffling the shawl more closelyround her head, hastily passed between the vine rows to a ruinedadobe building near the hillside. It was originally part of therefectory of the old Mision, but had been more recently used as avinadero's cottage. As she neared it, her steps grew slower,until, reaching its door, she hesitated, with her hand timidly onthe latch. The next moment she opened it gently; it was closedquickly behind her, and, with a little stifled cry, she foundherself in the arms of Henry Guest.

It was only for an instant; the pleading of her white hands,disengaged from his neck, where at first they had found themselves,and uplifted before her face, touched him more than the petitioningeyes or the sweet voiceless mouth, whose breath even was forgotten.Letting her sink into the chair from which he had just risen, hedrew back a step, with his hands clasped before him, and his darkhalf-savage eyes bent earnestly upon her. Well might he havegazed. It was no longer the conscious beauty, proud and regnant,seated before him; but a timid, frightened girl, struggling withher first deep passion.

All that was wise and gentle that she had intended to say, all thather clear intellect and experience had taught her, died upon herlips with that kiss. And all that she could do of womanly dignityand high-bred decorum was to tuck her small feet under her chair,in the desperate attempt to lengthen her short skirt, and beg himnot to look at her.

"I have had to change dresses with Faquita, because we werewatched," she said, leaning forward in her chair and drawing thestriped shawl around her shoulders. "I have had to steal out of mymother's house and through the fields, as if I was a gypsy. If Ionly were a gypsy, Harry, and not--"

"And not the proudest heiress in the land," he interrupted, withsomething of his old bitterness. "True, I had forgot."

"But I never reminded you of it," she said, lifting her eyes tohis. "I did not remind you of it on that day--in--in--in theconservatory, nor at the time you first spoke of--of--love to me--nor from the time I first consented to meet you here. It is YOU,Harry, who have spoken of the difference of our condition, YOU whohave talked of my wealth, my family, my position--until I wouldgladly have changed places with Faquita as I have garments, if Ihad thought it would make you happier."

"Forgive me, darling!" he said, dropping on one knee before her andbending over the cold little hand he had taken, until his dark headalmost rested in her lap. "Forgive me! You are too proud, Maruja,to admit, even to yourself, that you have given your heart whereyour hand and fortune could not follow. But others may not thinkso. I am proud, too, and will not have it said that I have won youbefore I was worthy of you."

"You have no right to be more proud than I, sir," she said, risingto her feet, with a touch of her old supreme assertion. "No--don't, Harry--please, Harry--there!" Nevertheless, she succumbed;and, when she went on, it was with her head resting on hisshoulder. "It's this deceit and secrecy that is so shameful,Harry. I think I could bear everything with you, if it were allknown--if you came to woo me like--like--the others. Even if theyabused you--if they spoke of your doubtful origin--of your poverty--of your hardships! When they aspersed you, I could fight them;when they spoke of your having no father that you could claim, Icould even lie for you, I think, Harry, and say that you had; ifthey spoke of your poverty, I would speak of my wealth; if theytalked of your hardships, I should only be proud of your endurance--if I could only keep the tears from my eyes!" They were therenow. He kissed them away.

"But if they threatened you? If they drove me from the house?"

"I should fly with you," she said, hiding her head in his breast.

"What if I were to ask you to fly with me now?" he said, gloomily.

"Now!" she repeated, lifting her frightened eyes to his.

His face darkened, with its old look of savage resentment. "Hearme, Maruja," he said, taking her hands tightly in his own. "When Iforgot myself--when I was mad that day in the conservatory, theonly expiation I could think of was to swear in my inmost soul thatI would never take advantage of your forgiveness, that I wouldnever tempt you to forget yourself, your friends, your family, forme, an unknown outcast. When I found you pitied me, and listenedto my love--I was too weak to forego the one ray of sunshine in mywretched life--and, thinking that I had a prospect before me in anidea I promised to reveal to you later, I swore never to beguileyou or myself in that hope by any act that might bring you torepent it--or myself to dishonor. But I taxed myself too much,Maruja. I have asked too much of you. You are right, darling;this secrecy--this deceit--is unworthy of us! Every hour of it--blest as it has been to me--every moment--sweet as it is--blackensthe purity of our only defense, makes you false and me a coward!It must end here--to-day! Maruja, darling, my precious one! Godknows what may be the success of my plans. We have but one chancenow. I must leave here to-day, never to return, or I must take youwith me. Do not start, Maruja--but hear me out. Dare you riskall? Dare you fly with me now, to-night, to the old Padre at theruined Mision, and let him bind us in those bonds that none darebreak? We can take Faquita with us--it is but a few miles--and wecan return and throw ourselves at your mother's feet. She can onlydrive us forth together. Or we can fly from this cursed wealth,and all the misery it has entailed--forever."

She raised her head, and, with her two hands on his shoulders,gazed at him with her father's searching eyes, as if to read hisvery soul.

"Are you mad, Harry!--think what you propose! Is this not temptingme? Think again, dearest," she said, half convulsively, seizinghis arm when her grasp had slipped from his shoulder.

There was a momentary silence as she stood with her eyes fixedalmost wildly on his set face. But a sudden shock against thebolted door and an inarticulate outcry startled them. With aninstinctive movement, Guest threw his arm round her.

"It's Pereo," she said, in a hurried whisper, but once moremistress of her strength and resolution. "He is seeking YOU! Flyat once. He is mad, Harry; a raving lunatic. He watched us thelast time. He has tracked us here. He suspects you. You must notmeet him. You can escape through the other door, that opens uponthe canada. If you love me--fly!"

"And leave YOU exposed to his fury--are you mad! No. Fly yourselfby the other door, lock it behind you, and alarm the servants. Iwill open this door to him, secure him here, and then be gone. Donot fear for me. There is no danger--and if I mistake not," headded, with a strange significance, "he will hardly attack me!"

"But he may have already alarmed the household. Hark!"

There was the noise of a struggle outside the door, and then thevoice of Captain Carroll, calm and collected, rose clearly for aninstant. "You are quite safe, Miss Saltonstall. I think I havehim secure, but perhaps you had better not open the door untilassistance comes."

They gazed at each other, without a word. A grim challenge playedon Guest's lips. Maruja lifted her little hands deliberately, andclasped them round his defiant neck.

"Listen, darling," she said, softly and quietly, as if only thesecurity of silence and darkness encompassed them. "You asked mejust now if I would fly with you--if I would marry you, without theconsent of my family--against the protest of my friends--and atonce! I hesitated, Harry, for I was frightened and foolish. But Isay to you now that I will marry you when and where you like--for Ilove you, Harry, and you alone."

"And you will remember in the years to come, Harry," she said,still composedly, and with her arms still around his neck, "that Inever loved any but you--that I never knew what love was before,and that since I have loved you--I have never thought of any other.Will you not?"

"I will--and now--"

"And now," she said, with a superb gesture towards the barrierwhich separated them from Carroll, "OPEN THE DOOR!"

CHAPTER XIII

With a swift glance of admiration at Maruja, Guest flung open thedoor. The hastily-summoned servants were already bearing away themadman, exhausted by his efforts. Captain Carroll alone remainedthere, erect and motionless, before the threshold.

At a sign from Maruja, he entered the room. In the flash of lightmade by the opening door, he had been perfectly conscious of hercompanion, but not a motion of his eye or the movement of a muscleof his face betrayed it. The trained discipline of his youth stoodhim in good service, and for the moment left him master of thesituation.

"I think no apology is needed for this intrusion," he said, withcool composure. "Pereo seemed intent on murdering somebody orsomething, and I followed him here. I suppose I might have got himaway more quietly, but I was afraid you might have thoughtlesslyopened the door." He stopped, and added, "I see now how unfoundedwas the supposition."

It was a fatal addition. In the next instant, the Maruja who hadbeen standing beside Guest, conscious-stricken and remorseful inthe presence of the man she had deceived, and calmly awaiting herpunishment, changed at this luckless exhibition of her own peculiarwomanly weapons. The old Maruja, supreme, ready, undaunted, andpassionless, returned to the fray.

"You were wrong, Captain," she said, sweetly; "fortunately, Mr.Guest--whom I see you have forgotten in your absence--was with me,and I think would have felt it his duty to have protected me. ButI thank you all the same, and I think even Mr. Guest will not allowhis envy of your good fortune in coming so gallantly to my rescueto prevent his appreciating its full value. I am only sorry thaton your return to La Mision Perdida you should have fallen into thearms of a madman before extending your hands to your friends."

Their eyes met. She saw that he hated her--and felt relieved.

"It may not have been so entirely unfortunate," he said, with acoldness strongly in contrast with his gradually blazing eyes, "forI was charged with a message to you, in which this madman issupposed by some to play an important part."

"Is it a matter of business?" said Maruja, lightly, yet with asudden instinctive premonition of coming evil in the relentlesstones of his voice.

"It is business, Miss Saltonstall--purely and simply business,"said Carroll, dryly, "under whatever OTHER name it may have beensince presented to you."

"Perhaps you have no objection to tell it before Mr. Guest," saidMaruja, with an inspiration of audacity; "it sounds so mysteriousthat it must be interesting. Otherwise, Captain Carroll, whoabhors business, would not have undertaken it with more than hisusual enthusiasm."

"As the business DOES interest Mr. Guest, or Mr. West, or whatevername he may have decided upon since I had the pleasure of meetinghim," said Carroll--for the first time striking fire from the eyesof his rival--"I see no reason why I should not, even at the riskof telling you what you already know. Briefly, then, Mr. Princecharged me to advise you and your mother to avoid litigation withthis gentleman, and admit his claim, as the son of Dr. West, to hisshare of the property."

The utter consternation and bewilderment shown in the face ofMaruja convinced Carroll of his fatal error. She HAD received theaddresses of this man without knowing his real position! The wildtheory that had seemed to justify his resentment--that she had soldherself to Guest to possess the property--now recoiled upon him inits utter baseness. She had loved Guest for himself alone; by thisbase revelation he had helped to throw her into his arms.

But he did not even yet know Maruja. Turning to Guest, withflashing eyes, she said, "Is it true--are you the son of Dr. West,and"--she hesitated--"kept out of your inheritance by US?"

"I AM the son of Dr. West," he said, earnestly, "though I alone hadthe right to tell you that at the proper time and occasion.Believe me that I have given no one the right--least of all anytool of Prince--to TRADE upon it."

"Then," said Carroll, fiercely, forgetting everything in his anger,"perhaps you will disclaim before this young lady the charge madeby your employer that Pereo was instigated to Dr. West's murder byher mother?"

Again he had overshot the mark. The horror and indignationdepicted in Guest's face was too plainly visible to Maruja, as wellas himself, to permit a doubt that the idea was as new as theaccusation. Forgetting her bewilderment at these revelations, herwounded pride, a torturing doubt suggested by Guest's want ofconfidence in her--indeed everything but the outraged feelings ofher lover, she flew to his side. "Not a word," she said, proudly,lifting her little hand before his darkening face. "Do not insultme by replying to such an accusation in my presence. CaptainCarroll," she continued, turning towards him, "I cannot forget thatyou were introduced into my mother's house as an officer and agentleman. When you return to it as such, and not as a MAN OFBUSINESS, you will be welcome. Until then, farewell!"

She remained standing, erect and passionless, as Carroll, with acold salutation, stepped back and disappeared in the darkness; andthen she turned, and, with tottering step and a little cry, fellupon Guest's breast. "O Harry--Harry!--why have you deceived me!"

"I thought it for the best, darling," he said, lifting her face tohis. "You know now the prospect I spoke of--the hope that buoyedme up! I wanted to win you myself alone, without appealing to yoursense of justice or even your sympathies! I did win you. Godknows, if I had not, you would never have learned through me that ason of Dr. West had ever lived. But that was not enough. When Ifound that I could establish my right to my father's property, Iwanted you to marry me before YOU knew it; so that it never couldbe said that you were influenced by anything but love for me. Thatwas why I came here to-day. That was why I pressed you to fly withme!"

He ceased. She was fumbling with the buttons of his waistcoat."Harry," she said, softly, "did you think of the property when--when--you kissed me in the conservatory?"

"I thought of nothing but YOU," he answered, tenderly.

Suddenly she started from his embrace. "But Pereo!--Harry--tell mequick--no one-nobody can think that this poor demented old mancould--that Dr. West was--that--it's all a trick--isn't it? Harry--speak!"

He was silent for a moment, and then said, gravely, "There werestrange men at the fonda that night, and--my father was supposed tocarry money with him. My own life was attempted at the Mision thesame evening for the sake of some paltry gold pieces that I hadimprudently shown. I was saved solely by the interference of oneman. That man was Pereo, your mayordomo!"

She seized his hand and raised it joyfully to her lips. "Thank youfor those words! And you will come to him with me at once; and hewill recognize you; and we will laugh at those lies; won't we,Harry?"

He did not reply. Perhaps he was listening to a confused sound ofvoices rapidly approaching the cottage. Together they stepped outinto the gathering night. A number of figures were coming towardsthem, among them Faquita, who ran a little ahead to meet hermistress.

"Oh, Dona Maruja, he has escaped!"

"Who? Not Pereo!"

"Truly. And on his horse. It was saddled and bridled in thestable all day. One knew it not. He was walking like a cat, whensuddenly he parted the peons around him, like grain before a madbull--and behold! he was on the pinto's back and away. And, alas!there is no horse that can keep up with the pinto. God grant hemay not get in the way of the r-r-railroad, that, in his verymadness, he will even despise."

"My own horse is in the thicket," whispered Guest, hurriedly, inMaruja's ear. "I have measured him with the pinto before now.Give me your blessing, and I will bring him back if he be alive."

She pressed his hand and said, "Go." Before the astonishedservants could identify the strange escort of their mistress, hewas gone.

It was already quite dark. To any but Guest, who had made thetopography of La Mision Perdida a practical study, and who hadknown the habitual circuit of the mayordomo in his efforts to avoidhim, the search would have been hopeless. But, rightlyconjecturing that he would in his demented condition follow theforce of habit, he spurred his horse along the high-road until hereached the lane leading to the grassy amphitheatre alreadydescribed, which was once his favorite resort. Since then it hadparticipated in the terrible transformation already wrought in thevalley by the railroad. A deep cutting through one of the grassyhills had been made for the line that now crossed the lower arc ofthe amphitheatre.

His conjecture was justified on entering it by the appearance of ashadowy horseman in full career round the circle, and he had nodifficulty in recognizing Pereo. As there was no other exit thanthe one by which he came, the other being inaccessible by reason ofthe railroad track, he calmly watched him twice make the circuit ofthe arena, ready to ride towards him when he showed symptoms ofslackening his speed.

Suddenly he became aware of some strange exercise on the part ofthe mysterious rider; and, as he swept by on the nearer side of thecircle, he saw that he was throwing a lasso! A horrible thoughtthat he was witnessing an insane rehearsal of the murder of hisfather flashed across his mind.

A far-off whistle from the distant woods recalled him to his calmersenses at the same moment that it seemed also to check theevolutions of the furious rider. Guest felt confident that thewretched man could not escape him now. It was the approachingtrain, whose appearance would undoubtedly frighten Pereo toward theentrance of the little valley guarded by him. The hill-side wasalready alive with the clattering echoes of the oncoming monster,when, to his horror, he saw the madman advancing rapidly towardsthe cutting. He put spurs to his horse, and started in pursuit;but the train was already emerging from the narrow passage,followed by the furious rider, who had wheeled abreast of theengine, and was, for a moment or two, madly keeping up with it.Guest shouted to him, but his voice was lost in the roar of therushing caravan.

Something seemed to fly from Pereo's hand. The next moment thetrain had passed; rider and horse, crushed and battered out of alllife, were rolling in the ditch, while the murderer's empty saddledangled at the end of a lasso, caught on the smoke-stack of one ofthe murdered man's avenging improvements!

. . . . . . . . .

The marriage of Maruja and the son of the late Dr. West wasreceived in the valley of San Antonio as one of the most admirablyconceived and skillfully matured plans of that lamented genius.There were many who were ready to state that the Doctor hadconfided it to them years before; and it was generally acceptedthat the widow Saltonstall had been simply made a trustee for thebenefit of the prospective young couple. Only one person perhaps,did not entirely accept these views; it was Mr. James Price--otherwise known as Aladdin. In later years, he is said to havestated authoritatively "that the only combination in business thatwas uncertain--was man and woman."